Power

The BJP’s failure to capitalize on the problems of the Congress, will it ever be seen as an alternative ?

Consider the fact that the Government is seen as gripped by policy paralysis, there is a reduction in the growth rate of the economy, and the Congress has been steadily losing state elections, and even seen in a problematic position in municipal elections in major cities in states ruled by the Congress. One would have expected that this would be the time that a resurgent opposition party would be able to capitalize on these issues, project itself as the national alternative, and start to attract the un-attached regional parties that cannot go with the Congress. In short, this would have been the time for the BJP to be seen as a huge alternative, ready to menace the support alliance of the Congress, and would have seen the NDA emerge as a massive alternative to the UPA.
But consider what is happening ? The BJP remains in the throes of a crisis. The only saving grace for the BJP in a huge electoral state such as Uttar Pradesh is that the Congress has got fewer seats than the BJP, but otherwise it is nowhere in the large scheme of things. The BJP is unable to make inroads in states where it does not have much of a support base, and the one state where it could have reached out into new territory is showcasing the worst performance of the BJP as a political entity (talking about Karnataka where Yeddyurappa keeps on threatening the BJP central leadership and the current Chief Minister in the state, and the Supreme Court keeps on threatening Yeddyurappa with more cases). By now, the BJP has become a laughing stock in the state and the corruption allegations against Yeddyurappa keeps on rising whenever it makes a national stand against corruption, and probably the only thing that is in its favor is that the rival parties are equally factional ridden.
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The elections in Uttar Pradesh, key to the fortunes of all involved

Very rarely have the state elections in a specific state been so critical for the fortunes of everybody involved. Uttar Pradesh, being the most populous state of the country has always been critical for the political fortunes of the Government at the center. There was a time when it was said that nobody could come to power unless they had power in Uttar Pradesh, but that particular piece of logic has been consigned to the dustbin for more than the past 10 years now. Both, the previous NDA Government and the Current 2 runs of the UPA Government have not held any kind of dominant position in the state, and yet managed to run fairly stable Governments at the center.
In the past, both the Congress and the BJP have held huge political leadership in the state, but first the rise of the BJP as a party that played the Mandir-Masjid card managed to galvanize more power towards itself; but this was a short phenomenon, since the rise of parties representing the backwards has damaged the poll prospects of both the leading national parties (the Congress and the BJP). You had the emergence of 2 more parties that sought to claim the leadership of the backward communities, including the OBC, the Dalits, and the Muslims. Both these parties, namely the Samajwadi Party and the BSP have had power in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
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The Andhra Pradesh Congress faces pressure after the win of Jagan Reddy in the Kadapa Lok Sabha polls

Ever since the helicopter death of the Congress Andhra strongman YSR, there has been a running feud between his son Jaganmohan Reddy and the rest of the Congress in Andhra. He wanted to replace his father as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and this was something that the Congress High Command did not want. There can only be one dynasty rule in the Congress, and it cannot be anybody other than the Gandhi family; further, Jaganmohan Reddy has a huge amount of money at his disposal and with political power, there would be no stopping him, he would not be controlled by the Congress high command. As a result, he was not allowed to reach anywhere near a position of power.
Next, Jagan started piling on the pressure on the Congress through a campaign, which was supposed to be a condolence yatra through the state, where he met people who felt for his father, and in some cases, met the families of those who committed suicide when YSR died. The Congress tried to prevent him from doing this campaign, and actively discouraged any legislator or MP from supporting this campaign, but eventually some of them did do this support. Further, even Sonia Gandhi tried to discourage him from going on this path, but he refused to buckle down.
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